IT CURRENTLY DOES NOT HAVE A RE-MADE RIGGING TUTORIAL. REFER TO HERE OR HAMILTON'S TUTORIAL ON HOW TO RIG.

A NEW RIGGING TUTORIAL WILL BE MADE IN THE FUTURE.

In this tutorial you will learn how to:Install scripts in blender,Import .mesh files,Transform a cube into a pretty item using various tools, andUnwrap and apply UV Maps/ Textures.

ALL EXPORTER, ETC. FILES CAN BE FOUND IN THE RIGGING TUTORIAL

The following four posts are four seperate PM content that I pmed three or four people wanting to know how I make my items. I made up this tutorial in enough depth so hopefully anyone could understand it - but knowing how to do something is not the only thing you need. Patience and persistence are key.

As said the following was made in seperate PMs (and now seperate posts for section convenience) so if it mentions "PM" or "I'll show that in the next pm" ignore it or refer to the next post. When I have time I'll edit it but for now this can do.

I do warn you, none of the people I have sent the pms to have been able to use blender still because it is difficult to use, however I hope some of you can make use of the tutorial.

PLEASE NOTE I USE AN OLDER VERSION OF BLENDER ~Blender 2.49~ AND YOU WILL NEED TO DOWNLOAD THIS OLD VERSION FOR MY TUTORIAL TO MAKE SENSE

What I'll do, 'cause I'm not the best at explaining things in detail, with words, is I'll make a simple item (probably a helmet again) and take screenshots.

I can't do a video because of my limited upload/download data and screenshots are good enough

I'm in the mood to do one now, so I'll send you PM's in parts, in case I run out of characters [letters] (unlikely, but it means you can switch between pm's and search through them quicker if you want to go over anything)

So yep :)First of all, I apologize if this seems like a really "noob-y" tutorial - I just want to be thorough :3 Keyboard shortcuts I will screenshot or label along the way.Do be warned however, the method in which I do UV maps/texture maps may and may not work for different objects. So yes, let's begin

Here's the first lot.

Step 1.Open Blender XDStep 2.Open Itunes/etc. :Plistening to music while using blender calms you from the frustration of errors. Which happen a lot.Step 3.You start off with your boring, little cube. I find it easier to mold something over the model of the lion's head or body. So, you'll need to download 'ogre import' 'ogre-mesh-importer' and also a mesh exporter.I do believe on the KITO website, or even on here there are links to these downloads.... if not, search deviantart - that is where I got mine.

The instructions are not very clear so this is what you do with them:Once downloaded, go:Local Disk (D:) > (PC's Username) > Appdata > Roaming > Blender Foundation > Blender > .blender > scripts > and that is where you put those scripts you downloaded :3It took me a good long 10 minutes or so to work out where on earth I needed to put it as instructions on the tutorial on dA do not tell you.

Next bit:Step 4.Now you'll need to get OgreXMLConverter (if you can't find a download for this, then search for OgreCommandLineTools )Download that XDBut this time, you can put it anywhere (it ended up downloading/installing in my C: drive so I can't remember how it all works. This part you'll need to work out yourself D: )

Step 5.In the Impressive World folder, find where all the meshes are. C: > Program Files > Impressive World > Media > ModelsThe ones you are looking for are the ones ending in 'Mesh'.Find whatever head you use ingame (because you want the items to fit your character specifically) and copy that to where-ever the OgreXMLConverter file is.

Step 6. Drag that head file onto the OgreXMLConverter and a black command box will appear momentarily. When it's finished, there will be a duplicate of the head file, but it will be (example) head3.mesh.xml which is what you import into blender.

Step 7. If you've done everything right so far, now we can go back into Blender and go File > Import > Ogre Mesh Importer (or Ogre (.mesh.xml)) and go find you're pretty lion head :3

The head will import really high up on the scene. For the sake of not screwing something invisible up, don't move it XD

To move the camera Hold control (either left or right) and press the numpad buttons 2, 4, 8 and 6 and it will move the camera down, left, up and right.To turn the camera around, let go of the control and press the same numbers.

Move the camera until you have a nice good view of the head. Alternatively you can scroll in and out, however it's far easier to use the numpad and control combination.

Step 8.Now click on your cube and using the blue, red and green arrows bring it towards the head.Make sure you're settings are the same as mine.

You can see the lion head, and also the cube behind it.Now click on the Cube and move it to the 2nd layer (to do this, press 'M' and then click on the 2nd top square)

You can also see that:1. It's set on object mode2. Solid Draw Type3. Have it on the triangle4. You can see that there are objects on layer 1 and 2. The head on layer 1, and the cube on layer 2. This way, you can unclick the head layer to work on your item, and then control-click it again to view it on the lion

Wow, so many steps and we haven't even started modelling!But at least we are ready to model

Step 9.Move the cube around until you work out what in the name of the moon you're gonna make XD

But for tutorial sake, we'll make a helmet.

The next part will begin the modelling ^_^

Last edited by King Sombra on Fri Nov 29, 2013 2:50 pm; edited 2 times in total

First of all, for things like helmets and armour that require it to be symmetrical on both sides, I model only one side, and then duplicate and merge when I'm done. So if you ever make a mistake after you've duplicated and merged, I deleted one side and copy the other across again once I've fixed it up.

Step 1.Shrink the cube and move it above the head like this.To shrink, press 'S' and move the mouse forward and backward to resize. Then click to exit re-sizing.

After this, press 'Tab' and you will be taken to the Edit Mode.Press 'A' (select all/deselect all) so that all the yellow nodes/vertices will become pink and the pink faces will go grey/blue. Press 'B' and click and drag over the top 4 vertices. Then, with the blue arrow drag them downward so the cube is thinner.Make the cube slightly thinner than what I've done in the screenshot, but not too thin or you wont be able to seperate the top four vertices with the bottom four. If you make a mistake, just undo with 'Ctrl+Z'.

Step 2.Now, to learn about Extruding Objects.Deselect all the vertices again. Move the camera (with either numpad or the mouse - click the mouse wheel and move the mouse around. You may need to re-align you're camera with the numpad again - I did.)

Remember to be aligned with that CUBE and NOT the lion. The Lion's head is SLANTED. That cube is true flat.

Using 'B' again grab the front 4 (the front being the direction the lion's facing) and then press 'E'. Choose 'Region' and then move it out along the default pink line that appears just far enough and then click. Now using the Tri-colour arrows move it so it looks like this.Getting it exact is not the point of this tutorial. In the end, you may morph you're helmet into whatever you want it to look like, this is merely guidelines :3 - in fact I advise against directly copying this helmet as, since I am spending the time to make it, it will become another showcase item. However, you may keep your copy/version as guidelines.

Step 3.Now do the exact same thing until you have multiple segments down towards his nose. Like in the next screeny. Multiple segments give it a slight curved and more realistic effect.

At the end, all I did was instead of pressing E again, I pressed 'S' and shrunk the end to give it a slight pointed look. On some parts you will need to manually move the lower vertices so the shape doesn't flatten itself.

See here? The top one is what you have, the 2nd one I've moved slightly downward and to the right. The 3rd I've moved again even further to the right and up. The Last I moved back to where it originally was (or somewhat).

Now you have the centre piece we can work on the right side ^_^ - or left if you prefer left, but I'll be working on the right.

Step 4.Select the following vertices:This also shows what kind of helmet we intend on making

Now Extrude them to make this:delete the vertices circled as that was a mistake.

Step 5.This bit is really fiddly, but we were gonna get to it sooner or later.This is what my helmet looks like now.

The arrows and circles show where those lower segmented bits extrude from. You will need to use the tri-colour arrows and move the segments and vertices around so they slightly resemble this. You can move the lower segment lower so eye-visibility from the character is better, which is what I will be doing.

Step 6.

This time you'll need to move the vertices/edges of the upper two segments around and merge them with the rest of the helmet like so:

To do this:In the bottom corneryou'll need to merge the top two vertices and the bottom two seperately by pressing B and selecting two and then pressing 'Alt+M' and choose 'At Centre'.

For the top bit you will need to subdivide the upper piece you're connecting the eye-piece to.

Then do the same thing as before and merge top with top and bottom with bottom.If this part (or any part) was confusing just say and I'll try explain it better.

Step 7.This is the part where you get to work out yourself how I've done it, by brief instructions and screenshots.

You can see I've now completed the eye section. Basically, you keep making segments until they meet up with the top of the helmet, then using the Merge trick I taught in the last step, merge them together like so. These were the places I merged, but you may merge in different places, depending on whether you use the same segments and sections etc.

If you press 'Tab' your helmet may look something similar to what mine does.

Step 1.Majority of Part 2 is me showing screenshots of MY helmet, but with everything you've learnt in the previous two tuts, you are to making you're helmet however you want :3

That is what mine looks like at the moment, you may try and replicate it, or simply make you're own design.

Once you've finished the helmet (DO NOT ADD HORNS, SPIKES ETC. THAT WILL USE A DIFFERENT TEXTURE/UV MAP YET!)do this:

Woo! Now you're helmet's base is done

Now I'm sure you probably want to add things like horns, spikes, etc.We can do that now that the helmet is complete ^_^

Step 2.Only thing I suggest when doing horns is to start with the Cylinder model.Press Space > Add > Cylinder.Change the number of Vertices to 8 and press okay. A massive cylindar will appear. Just like with the cube, shrink it using S and move it into wherever you want horns/spikes.

Tip: To rotate the cylindar on the edit mod : solid draw type : etc. bar, click the green circle instead of the red triangle. Now you can rotate the cylindar.

Tip: Again, make only ONE horn and then duplicate and move it to the other side/mirrored just like the helmet. This keeps symmetry!

The closer you get to the tip of your horn, you should use S to shrink the cylinder segment to give it that 'horn-like' or cone effect/look.

Continue this until you get the desired horn, whether you replicate you're own version of Xaphan's, Rams, or make up you're own entirely new horn shape.

Use creatures like Dragons and Demons as referrence if you need it.Mine come from a dragon character of mine.

DO NOT MERGE THE HORNS WITH THE HELMET!

This is what your helmet should HAVE by now. Whether you copy my helmet directly from the images is up to you.

So, run-down of what you've got.

Centre pieceHelmet right sideduplicated right side turned into leftall the above merged together

Alright, depending on your helmet and how you want to do the mapping you can do this several ways.

For both the wolf dagger and dragon helmet I've done, I did it this way.

Note: The way I do it requires two seperate Tex Maps, however there are ways to do this method on the same tex map it just takes a bit longer.

----------I WENT BACK AND REDID THE TEXTURE MAPS ON THIS SO NOW IT'S ONLY ONE TEXTURE MAP WHICH IS WHAT YOU MUST HAVE FOR IT SERVERS----------

After you've done all that, open up the texture files on a image editing program like photoshop or gimp.

Draw on whatever colours, textures etc you want! Literally!

Tip: If you want to add runic patterns or something that requires you to know exactly where the edge of the helmet is, screenshot the texture map on blender, with the horns or helmet highlighted and then paste the texture map from that screenshot, onto the file you're working on.

After you've done all that and saved it as a .PNG, you can go back to blender and go Image > Replace > and the save file that has the texture on it!

If you need to update the texture, do the same thing: Image > Replace.

To see your pretty texture, change Draw Type to Texture and you're pretty texture will be there!

IMPORTANT:

You will undoubtedly have a "face" issue. It takes a while to fix, but it is fixable! DON'T PANIC!... like I did.

Just select the face

and Flip Normals.

That's it!

Being honest here I have no idea how to rig or anything to do woth code or armatures. So this is where my tutorial ends My Tutorial on rigging and adding into the game will continue when I have the time to make the tutorial.

If you have any questions or would like a better example or brief tutorial on a certain aspect of the entire tutorial, just say and I'll do my best to explain it better :3

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial and that I was helpful.I also hope that future projects for you is a fun thing to do

Last edited by ShadoWolfozo on Fri Apr 27, 2012 8:11 am; edited 1 time in total

All files (except the Exporter because the link I downloaded it from was deleted) I downloaded and use but I hold no responsibility for any harm that comes from downloading these files.Download at your own risk.

This tutorial will teach you how to;Rig your own item USING AN EXISTING RIGTHIS DOES NOT TEACH YOU HOW TO RIG FROM SCRATCHExport as .xml.mesh and convert to .meshCode it for in-game useAdd it into the gameTest it in the game

Step 1.Open Blender :3For this tutorial (Since my helmet from the other tut is already rigged) we'll be rigging Chris's Laser Sword (a request - no I don't do any more requests don't ask.)

That's the concept of Chris's sword and hopefully, by the end of this tut it'll look something like it!

First things first, here's the model textured (you should have saved this somewhere from the last tutorial)

NOW!

Go File > Open > Find wherever you saved the IT Blender Files and open whatever item best suits yours (so for example, since Chris wants the sword being held in the mouth, we'll use the helmet1.blend file.)

Since we're going to use the helmet1.blend file, I'll be refering to this the entire time.

When you open it you'll see the following (Left)You need the black line (Right) so just change layer to layer 1.Delete everything on the other layers except the black line and the helmet.

Step 2.Go File > Append or LinkGo find your item fileNow click on it and you'll get this:Click on ObjectUsually you would not have changed the mesh name (so it'll be something like Cube, Cube0.001, Cylinder, etc.) and then press Load Library on the Right and Side.

Now deselect and select your item.Press Tab and flip it, move it, so it looks like it's gonna sit properly (in the case I had to rotate it)

Now

You've got this:

Before you move on, select the bone and then select the item.Change from Object Mode to Weight Paint mode and paint the enitre thing red.Yes it will begin to look deformed, but continue painting it and it'll look normal again

But what about textures? Let's look at that now.

Step 5.Open up your texture like you did in the last tutorial

Now, here's where things get different.Go to the Editting menu in the buttons panel (the black square with orange corners button) and change the OB and ME to whatever you want the sword to be called. NO SPACES OR FUNNY SYMBOLS. < May cause problems.Try not to use caps either and keept the name short. Too long names do not work in game.

Now go to the Materials sectionand click new Materialname it yourobjecttex or matthen give it a tex like in the image above.Go into the Textures section and do the following:Create a texture and change it to image in the dropdown menu (circled) then click on the second circled button to choose from the textures you uploaded back at the start of this step.Now go back to Material and give it the texture.(You should only have 1 texture I have 2 for a different reason that will not be explained in THIS tutorial).

Trivia:Like presets you can add glowing, invisible, moving etc. textures. This is a lot more difficult (even than presets) and we will not be looking into it.

Step 6.

Time to export!Before we start just let me say, congratulations on getting this far.Now, this next bit is very time consuming as you will need to go back and forth many times and repeat this step many, many times.

Click in the Window Menu button and click Scripts WindowNow click on the Scripts button and do this:(OGRE Mesh Exporter may be called something else)

step 7.

Select the bone & itemClick Update and it should automatically select the item. If it doesn't, click it in the drop down menu.

Make sure all buttons on your screen match that of the image below.Make also sure that you change the material file name.And have .material at the end of it.

Now go into PreferencesSelect the location to the OgreCommandLineTools (so it'll convert it for you)Then go OK

Now, since we used the helmet1 rig it would be easy to just use the helmet1 on this as well (for reference reasons)

Now, copy it and paste it either at the top or bottom of the list.

replace what it says to match this:

Red is the objects name (whatever you called OB and ME)Green is what you want the object to be called ingameBlue is the rigging (helmet 1 is rigged to head2. DO NOT TOUCH THIS)Change purple to 0

Now open a campaign up.I've modified my campaign file and you'll need to as well.

You will need to type in at least one line of blue to test the item.The item in the code will always be referred to as it's OB/Object name.

Trivia:The green allows you to attack in campaignThe Blue allows equipping items.You can equip ANY item from the cfg list, regardless whether it was private or public.The orange gives the player skills. e.g. zooms.200 is still the max.You can only equip 6 items.

Step 10.

Open the game and go into the campaign.

Now, the first time (unless you are lucky) the item will usually be.. in the completely wrong area XD

So you'll need to go back into blender and press TAB on the ITEM only, then move it using the tri-colour arrows.Then re-export (repeat step 7.)

The only files you'll need to copy again are the .mesh and .skeleton files. Copy and replace the old ones in the Media > Models folder.

Let's try it again :3

One more time

YAY!

Alright, so the sword (despite what I posted up) took 5 or 6 attempts at lining it up.I also scaled it down a bit because it was a bit too big.

Some of my items take 2 attempts to re-align, some take as many as 20 or 30 <which by that point I'm like 'WorkdamnitorIjustabandonitrightnow'.

Anyway, so that's pretty much all there is to rigging an item using an existing model rig!You can do the same with body items, neck items, tail, leg, feet, etc. so long as you have another item that uses the same bone. Otherwise you'll need to edit a whole lot more stuff (which I don't know how )

I hope this tutorial has helped you and you are on your way to becoming a budding item artist.

FAQ:

Q. Why are you showing people how to do this? You'll go out of work you idiot!A. I know what you mean, and the thought did cross my mind, but people can work out how to do it anyway this will just make it easier for them.

Why hog all the information, skills and knowledge to myself when I can share it with everyone?Besides, you still have to know how to use Blender and not get frustrated to do anything

Q. OMG. WTF. SOMETHING HAPPENED, WHAT DID I DO? IT'S NOT WOOOOORRRRKKKIIINNNNGGGGG!!!! HEEEELP!

A. If you did something wrong, there are many, MANY errors that can pop up.

Magix may shut down from 'unexpected errors'Files may not be foundA path may be undefined

Each of these has different solutions (and some have no solution) so if you have a problem, be sure to post and I'll get back to you on it ASAP.

Common Errors:'Warning! Vertex without bone assignment!'You either haven't weight-painted the whole thing, did not parent the object to the bone selecting 'Armature>No Name Groups' or you can select the object, press tab and press 'W' then press 'Remove Doubles'

'Exception caught: the mesh you have supplied does not have its bounds completely defined. Define them first before exporting'You pressed 'Bone' instead of 'Armature' when parenting.

Make sure .material is in the scripts folder.png/.jpeg is in the textures folder.mesh and .skeleton in the models folderyou coded it properly in items.cfg

If you get a specific error, post a screenshot and I'll try to help - I've come across a fair few but I can't remember them all (because I learnt from my mistakes )

Q. So what if I have an item that there is no pre-existing item for??A. Unfortunately I can't help you with that. All my items are made off pre-existing items' rigs so it's easier for me and saves a lot of time.

I suggest asking another item modder who knows how to rig from scratch.

Last edited by ShadoWolfozo on Sat Jun 02, 2012 8:35 am; edited 1 time in total

This tutorial is brilliant; thank you for taking the time to write it!

Following your tutorial has helped me dramatically in learning how to mesh items, but I'm having trouble with getting IT to accept it; I've had the same problem with moving a mesh from FH to IT as well, before. [If that might help narrow the field.]

Do you have any theories on what may have happened?

For more of a picture on what I've been working on, I didn't mesh a duplicate of your items; I instead have worked on curled horns, having made them from a cone and linked them together. I used the Antler's blend file for the bone.

This tutorial is brilliant; thank you for taking the time to write it!

Following your tutorial has helped me dramatically in learning how to mesh items, but I'm having trouble with getting IT to accept it; I've had the same problem with moving a mesh from FH to IT as well, before. [If that might help narrow the field.]

Do you have any theories on what may have happened?

For more of a picture on what I've been working on, I didn't mesh a duplicate of your items; I instead have worked on curled horns, having made them from a cone and linked them together. I used the Antler's blend file for the bone.

All files (except the Exporter because the link I downloaded it from was deleted) I downloaded and use but I hold no responsibility for any harm that comes from downloading these files.Download at your own risk.

there are the ones I posted.All except the exporter I use and should be the correct version

I have been looking around the feral-heart site, deviant art, the web, and even youtube for a canine model. See, I want to take an item from one of the IW games and "convert" it to fit good on a FH canine model (Its going to be a pack item lol) but still, can you provide a more narrow glance at where I can find models for item making? :3

Great tutorial Shad. ^^ It helped me a lot, but I have one problem with getting it in-game. When I'm trying to see my item in campaign, the game crashes and this pops up:It happens when I'm doing it in SoE, in IL the game just turns off without anything. What can be the reason?